1 Marriage equality: Colorado District Court Judge C. Scott Crabtree on Wednesday ruled the 2006 voter-approved ban on gay marriage violates the state and federal constitutions. He immediately put his ruling on hold pending an appeal. Crabtree is the 16th judge to void a state's same-sex marriage ban since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that the federal government has to recognize those marriages in the states.

2 New HUD secretary: The Senate easily confirmed San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro on Wednesday to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, boosting the national profile of a Democrat with a compelling biography who's considered a vice presidential contender in 2016. The 71-26 vote makes the 39-year-old Castro one of the government's highest-ranking Hispanics, a growing group of voters who lean solidly Democratic.

3 Trapped in jail: A man who came to visit his son was accidentally trapped inside an empty maximum security visiting area of Cook County Jail for about 30 hours over the weekend, authorities said Tuesday. He was rescued when he broke a sprinkler head, alerting Chicago Fire Department firefighters who found him about 1 a.m. His ordeal started Saturday about 6 p.m. when he was on his way to his weekly visit with his son, who is in sheriff's custody awaiting a trial on a drug case.

4 Deadly tornado: Residents of the central New York town of Smithfield on Wednesday picked through debris from homes battered by a deadly tornado, and utility crews worked to restore power in several Eastern states hit by severe storms. In all, five people died Tuesday as strong thunderstorms blew down buildings, trees and utility lines and left hundreds of thousands without power into Wednesday. The Smithfield tornado's winds were at least 100 mph and certainly reached undetermined higher speeds.

5 Soccer ref killed: A Detroit-area soccer player accused of killing a referee with a punch to his neck has been charged with second-degree murder. Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the charge Wednesday against 36-year-old Baseel Abdul-Amir Saad of Dearborn. Saad is accused of striking 44-year-old John Bieniewicz when the referee planned to eject him.

6 Campus assaults: A survey of colleges and universities finds a lack of coordination between many campuses and local law enforcement in handling sexual assaults, and that many schools have gone years without investigating such cases. About 40 percent of colleges and universities reported not having conducted a sexual assault investigation in the past five years, including 6 percent of the nation's largest public institutions. More than 20 percent of large, private schools conducted fewer investigations than the number of incidents reported to the Education Department. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., a former prosecutor whose office conducted the survey, said parents and taxpayers should be concerned about the number of investigations.